Three legislators want to make it illegal for restaurants to serve obese customers in Mississippi.

House Bill No. 282, which was introduced this month, says: Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

The proposal would allow health inspectors to yank the permit from any restaurant that "repeatedly" feeds extremely overweight customers.

The bill, written by GOP Rep. W. T. Mayhall Jr., was referred to the Judiciary and Public Health committees, but The Jackson Free Press doesn't expect it to garner much support in the statehouse.

About two-third of Mississippians are considered overweight or obese, according to a recent analysis of federal health data.

trish_punch sent this to me, and I thought it would be worth posting. Wow. Cause... wow.

How mortifying would it be to hear...

Re: How mortifying would it be to hear...

Isn't it terrible? I mean seriously, can you imagine having an engagement dinner or something and your parent, or sister or something being turned away because they were too "fat" and weren't allowed to celebrate with you? Pisses me off.

Ridiculous. I'm all for maintaining a healthy weight and encouraging it in others but rather than be downright MEAN the state could require all restaraunts to offer a "healthy choices" menu. Because not only would it be emotionally traumatizing to customers but also financially traumatizing to those who own the restaraunt.

It's really wrong. I think I'm going to write about this for my argument class--thanks for posting it.

Re: GOP Rep. W. T. Mayhall Jr. House Bill No. 282

Yeah, while I understand they want to help people with their eating habits, this isn't the way to do it. Perhaps it will spur some kind of movement to provide healthier food again. I mean they're already working on that.

Also, I've seen that video, if it's the one I think it is, and it's HILARIOUS.

Next they'll be passing bills legislating free food to anorexics and bulimics alike. I mean, seriously? Because people suffering from obesity aren't traumatised enough with the media and their own self image (I don't recall any obese people wanting to be obese).

This is actually really really disgusting. I'm glad I don't live in America.

I dunno...

While I'm not sure how serious they are in proposing this bill, I know there are some very self righteous people who think that the obese are really selfish people. There are rants about how others have to suffer by paying for the extra weight on flights, etc.

I remember working with a nurse who went on a rant about this. She is a really thin, tiny person, barely five feet tall, and she was talking about how selfish it was for people to get fat and then get too sick to take care of themselves, and have to be moved around by nurses who end up injuring themselves. I do understand how she might feel frustrated by having a 400 lb comatose patient and not having help. On the other hand I tried to explain to her that it just isn't that simple, (and back then I wasn't overweight), but she just was too angry.

My niece and I went to a gym, once, and were in the locker room after changing out of our bathing suits, and there were these two young women in there who were obviously involved in taking very good care of their bodies. My niece weighed about 300 lbs, then, and was really struggling to help herself, and there they were saying very loudly how they would kill themselves if they looked like her. Now that was bad.

Some people are very judgmental about weight. My bf used to be. He's changed quite a bit now that he's gotten to know me - and has had a back injury that caused him to gain weight, after being a body builder an athlete all of his life. (He even has a Mr. Coppertone trophy he won when he was in his thirties).

Re: I dunno...

I really hate the attitudes people have about those who are overweight, or underweight. It seems to be the new way to be judgemental and horrible to other people and it's socially acceptable. Pisses me off.